It was September 4, 1944,
the Allies liberated the last Belgium before they stopped at Antwerp
due to supply shortages. All over Holland, German troops were
dashing towards the German border. However, German Field Marshal
Gerd von Rundstedt took advantage of this delay and reorganize
the scattered troops into a formadible opponent. Allied Field
Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery (Monty) made plans for a great
airborne offensive - the largest airborne operation in history!
On September 14, General Eisenhower approves the plan and the
attack was scheduled on the 17th of September. Three airborne
divisions and the British XXX Corps took part in this operation.

It was September 17, 1944,
the skies of Holland was filled with gliders and parachutes. Their
target was to hold five main bridges of the narrow highway between
Einthoven and Arnhem before the XXX Corps come to relieve them.
There were three sectors and limited time. If the Arnhem Bridge
was in German posession when the XXX Corps arrive in Arnhem (64
miles from where they start their advance), the bridge will prove
to be A Bridge Too Far! However, if it was successful, it
could bring an end to the war before Christmas!

Down in the Einthoven Sector,
the US 101st Screaming Eagles Airborne Division, led by General
Maxwell Taylor, secured the Veghel bridge in the north and the
Schijndel Road between the two bridges but the 101st failed to
secure the main Son bridge before it blew up. It knocked the operation
off schedule.

However in the Nijmegan
Sector, the US 82nd All-Americans Airborne Division, led by General
James Gavin, secured the southern Grave Bridge immediately after
they arrived. Because the division fought all day to secure their
landing zones in the Groesbeek Heights, they had no time attacking
the main Nijmegan Bridge.

In the Arnhem Sector, the
situation was critical! The British 1st Airborne Division, also
known as the famous Red Devils for their maroon berets,
lost its entire communications with the outside world AND within
the division! General Roy Urquhart and his Red Devils fortunately
landed safely. Also, a force led by Lt. Colonel John Frost reached
the main Arnhem bridge but unfortunately, the force was 500 men
strong! General Urquhart and about 9500 of his troops failed to get past Kampfgruppe Spindler guarding the road to help Frost's men.

XXX Corps waited for a pontoon
bridge to be built over the Wilhelmina Canal to replace the blown
Son Bridge which knocked XXX Corps 36 hours behind schedule! After,
they rolled off through Hell's Highway, past the Veghel Bridge
to 82nd All-Americans' territory by 8:30 am on the 19th!

Polish reinforcements that
were suppose to take off that day was postponed for 24 hours due
to fog. They were supposed to drop in the Arnhem Sector.

At 3:30 pm, XXX Corps arrived
at Nijmegan but the attack on the bridge was stopped by the Germans.
The bridge was sill in German hands. General Gavin knew that the
only way to take a bridge was to attack simutaniously at both
ends so he planned a river crossing at 1:00 pm on the next day,
the 20th of September.

The next day, the Polish
reinforcement's airdrop was postponed for another 24 hours. The
leader of the Polish reinforcements, General Stanislaw Sosabowski,
was stunned!

It was 1 o'clock, led by
Major Julian Cook, rowboats crossed the 400 yards long Waal river
in an amazing river assault taking the bridge. German Major General
Harmel tried to blow the bridge but nothing happened. He and his
staff fled Nijmegan. XXX Corps rested and prepared the attack
on Arnhem that will take place the next day.

After defending against
heavy armoured attacks, Lt. Col. Frost's men finally surrendered
to the 9.SS Panzer Division after they ran out of ammunition.
Their last radio message was, "Out of ammunition. God Save the King." It was 6:00 pm on the 20th.

XXX Corps made the drive
to Arnhem on a road the soldiers called the Island. Both sides
were deep dikes where anti-tank batteries might hide. They were
attacked by heavy German fire! It was impossible to get through
the barrage of shells! The Sherman tanks were blasted to pieces!

General Urquhart and his
men were stuck in Oosterbeek, a town west of Arnhem, and the brave
Red Devils were surrounded! The North, East and West were Germans,
the South was a river!

At Driel, a town across
the river from Oosterbeek, the Polish reinforcements finally dropped
in...too late. The next day on the 22nd, XXX Corps sent two reconnaissance
troops through the secondary road to Driel where finally the tanks
reached the Southern bank of the Rhine River. The Polish tried
to send troops across the Rhine to relieve Urquhart's men but
they failed. German Field Marshal Walther Model orders a quick
finish to the Red Devils. The 9th SS Panzer Division increased
its strength when finally starting at 2 o'clock in the morning,
Urquhart and his troops abandoned their posts and crossed the
Rhine to safety. Out of the original 10,005 Red Devils, only 2,163
made it to safety. Urquhart was one of the lucky ones but Frost
was not. He was taken prisoner.